Week 15 for us could have been worse but it also could have been better. We had Trey McBride who finished as the TE4 but Sam Laporta and Jonnu Smith were the top options (our Kelce pick fell flat). Mark Andrews was solid from our mid tier but Hunter Henry was disappointing. 

And Pat Freiermuth from the value tier finished as TE8 while Stone Smartt had an okay performance but Brenton Strange with 12 targets ended up being the play. We rounded things out by successfully fading guys like Dalton Kincaid and Cade Otton, but we can’t help but feel like we left some value on the table.

 

 

 

NFL DFS Week 16 TE Coach For FanDuel & DraftKings Fantasy

We’ve got three more full slates of NFL football to make magic happen so we can’t hold anything back now! 

Let’s dig into the main slate for Week 16 and see if we can hit the top NFL DFS TE plays!

 

 

 

NFL DFS TE Pick For Week 16 Saturday Slate

Mark Andrews, TE Baltimore Ravens - DraftKings: $3,900 | FanDuel: $6,000

We’ve got a nice little two game slate on Saturday and, with the NFL season slipping through our fingers, we’re obviously going to play it. The Texans-Chiefs game is lining up to be a low-scoring affair with an over/under of 41.5. Noah Gray is really the only real viable pay-down option on the slate but it’s likely going to be a popular one given his tendency to find the endzone lately.

We’re going to focus on the other game. Both Mark Andrews and Pat Freiermuth have scored in three straight. And both played about ~70% of the snaps last week. But the difference is that the Ravens pulled their starters towards the end of the game in a blowout - even Lamar Jackson only played 83% of the snaps. 

Andrews is looking a lot better in his recovery from Tightrope surgery on a high ankle sprain so that’s our play. Pat Freiermuth was a little better with George Pickens out but Pickens is expected back. He’s really not that much cheaper than Andrews either and the Ravens are projected to win by a touchdown. 

 

 

 

NFL DFS TE Top Tier Picks For Week 16

Trey McBride, TE Arizona Cardinals - DraftKings: $6,000 | FanDuel: $7,500

Trey McBride has been good. No doubt about that. But you know what would be great? If he would catch a touchdown pass. His 89 receptions with 0 receiving TDs is now the most in NFL history.

And everyone knows it. Last week they called a pass play from the one yard line and ran a shovel pass to McBride to try to get him one. And he was stuffed at the goal line. He’s now had 13 red zone targets with nothing to show for it. This week they play the Carolina Panthers, one of the stone worst teams against the tight end. 

As you can see in the screenshot below, Kyler Murray has vowed to get McBride into the endzone, and they are going out of their way to scheme up plays for it so I’m putting my money there. He’s gotten double-digit targets in four straight games so just imagine a touchdown or two on top of that? We like him so much this week that he’s our one top tier play on the main slate. 

 

 

 

NFL DFS TE Mid-Tier Picks For NFL Week 16

Dalton Kincaid, TE Buffalo Bills - DraftKings: $4,100 | FanDuel: $6,300

Perhaps it is the lingering ankle injury he has been dealing with but Kyle Dugger has not been nearly as effective this year as he was last year. He’s once again on the injury report this week, missing practice completely on Wednesday. He’s been the Patriots main weapon against the tight end in recent years so this year they have struggled.

In his first game back from injury he registered 7 targets. That’s in spite of playing just below a 50% snap share. He’s had at least 6 targets in 7 of his last 8 games and the one game where he didn’t get 6 targets was the Colts game where he got 5 targets on only 18 snaps before getting hurt. 

In fact, per Fantasy Points Data Suite, Dalton Kincaid’s 0.31 targets per route run since Week 5 leads all tight ends that have run at least 70 snaps. We’re hoping the Patriots can stay in the game long enough for the starters to hang around. 

Hunter Henry, TE New England Patriots - DraftKings: $4,100 | FanDuel: $5,000

Henry had a down week last week which was disappointing. He caught all four of his targets but only for 25 yards. That doesn’t change the ceiling for this player though or what he is capable of. He still leads this team in snaps, routes, targets, receptions, and yards on the season, a rare feat for a tight end.

In the previous three games, Henry had 9, 8, and 9 targets. In fact, since Drake Maye took over as the starter in Week 6, Hunter Henry has the 7th most targets of any tight end. He’s also played the 7th most snaps of any tight end on the season. 

The Patriots are pretty heavy underdogs this week against the Bills so they will be forced to throw. Hopefully the volume is there for Henry and maybe he can sneak into the endzone. On DraftKings he is the 16th most expensive tight end - he’s cheaper than Jordan Akins. 

 

 

 

NFL DFS TE Value Picks For NFL Week 16

Brenton Strange, TE Jacksonville Jaguars, DraftKings: $3,800 | FanDuel: $5,200

It might feel too obvious. And it might feel like chasing last week. And that’s because, to some degree, it is. But the fact of the matter here is that Brenton Strange is underpriced on DraftKings.

We don’t expect him to get 12 targets again. But he is in that Evan Engram role now. And the Raiders are one of the worst teams against the tight end. So the price is simply too low at $3,500. On FanDuel they jacked him up a bit to where he’s more expensive than Hunter Henry. Which is fine because he’s better in the full PPR format anyway. 

Ben Sinnott, TE Washington Commanders - DraftKings: $2,800 | FanDuel: $4,400

Our guy Stone Smartt is playing Thursday (plus his matchup isn’t great anyway). So we need another deeper dart throw.  This one assumes that Zach Ertz does not play this week but, as of Wednesday, he was not practicing so he clearly has not made huge progress through concussion protocol.

All year Zach Ertz has been the top tight end for WAS with John Bates operating as the blocking tight end. As we expected, when Ertz went down, Bates was not elevated into the pass catching role but rather he kept his blocking role and Ben Sinnott was elevated. 

Sinnott ran 26 routes last week to only 10 for Bates. It’s not an incredible matchup but the role for Ertz has been good so we are excited to see what the athletic rookie can do. It’s a bit late in the season but last year Trey McBride was also stuck behind Ertz early on until Ertz went down. 

 

 

 

NFL DFS TE Fades For Week 16

David Njoku, TE Cleveland Browns - DraftKings: $5,200 | FanDuel: $6,500

Brock Bowers is a fine option considering Aiden O’Connell is expected to start rather than Desmon Ridder. David Njoku isn’t as lucky with Dorian Thompson-Robinson starting over Jameis Winston this week. 

That and the hamstring issue has us off Njoku which is a real shame because the Bengals are typically a good tight end matchup.

Jonnu Smith, TE Buffalo Bills - DraftKings: $5,500 | FanDuel: $7,000

We all saw what happened with DeVondre Campbell. And Dre Greenlaw is banged up. But Fred Warner is still an incredible cover linebacker. If you take all linebackers that have played at least 20 snaps in coverage, Fred Warner is the second highest graded in coverage per Pro Football Focus. 

With Mike McDaniel and Kyle Shanahan knowing a lot of each other’s tricks, we don’t really love George Kittle that much going back the other way. I think this game ends up going under on the point total. 

 

 

 

NFL DFS Week 16 TE Projections